The present invention relates to a registration ear tag to be attached to ears of animals, a method of printing such an ear tag, and an individual identification method using such an ear tag, and particularly to an animal ear tag, a method of printing such an ear tag and an individual identification method using such an ear tag, in which the ear tag is printed with: an Animal Registration Number; and a part of the Animal Registration Number, which part is enlarged as a farm-use individual identification number, such that individual identification of animals on farms can be readily performed correspondingly to the number of animals bred or fed on each farm, in a manner comparable to typical ear tags.
Conventional methods for individually identifying animals bred in farms utilize can use muzzle patterns of cattle by the Japanese Wagyu Beef Registration Association and black and white body patterns of Holstein cattle by the Holstein Cattle Association. Although such individual identification methods are accurate, there is a problem that individual cattle cannot be identified, without their registration certificates, in the field, thereby not allowing quick individual identification.
Meanwhile, in countries other than Japan, such as in Europe, there has been practiced a dairy cow registration system utilizing ear tags. Each ear tag is constituted of two plates of soft plastic each having a length and a width of several centimeters, respectively, in which the ear tag is attached to an ear of a cow by passing one ends of the plates through the ear. In this case, the two plates constituting the ear tag are designed to be integrated with each other upon such attachment, so as to prevent illegal reuse of the ear tag.
In such a dairy cow registration system utilizing ear tags, the surface of an ear tag is printed with an Animal Registration Number, so that the individual identification of animals cannot be done satisfactorily by confirming the Animal Registration Number.
Meantime, the Animal Registration Number to be indicated on a common ear tag typically includes 2 to 3 digits for visibility, since it is sufficient to identify animals within one farms. There will be thus required an go additional design for such ear tags, if they are to be used for identifying all the cattle in Japan.
Turning to Europe where farm registration is practiced at the national level, there has been such a problem that when numbers of more than 8 digits, necessary for registration, are directly printed on ear tags, the size of numerals or figures indicating an Animal Registration Number becomes too small to easily see, Thus, the following procedure has been conducted in Europe: to enlargingly print numerals of the last 4 digits of an Animal Registration Number; or to indicate an Animal Registration Number in multiple rows so as 0o subdivide the upper digits into an area code and a farm code and to enlargingly print the lowermost 4 digits as a farm-use individual identification number on an ear tag. (Hereinafter, the expression xe2x80x9cnumeral(s) at digit(s)xe2x80x9d will be simply shortened to xe2x80x9cdigit(s)xe2x80x9d, for expediency, as the case may be.)
However, the animal registration system utilizing ear tags, as used in Europe, has the following two problems.
(1) When only the last 4 digits of an Animal Registration Number excluding a check digit are enlargingly printed and the Animal Registration Number is issued in the ascending order from a lower number, farms are receive ear tags carrying enlargedly printed farm-use individual identification numbers of 4 digits, respectively, which numbers are consecutive correspondingly to the issued sequence, leading to difficulty in individually managing cattle by such ear tags. Namely, for a farm breeding 40 cows, among average farms breeding 40 to 50 cows, it is not always possible to obtain the desired numbers, such as from xe2x80x9c0001xe2x80x9d, to xe2x80x9c0040xe2x80x9d, which can be readily identified and managed. For example, there may be delivered 40 ear tags carrying enlarged farm-use individual identification numbers from xe2x80x9c3678xe2x80x9d to xe2x80x9c3717xe2x80x9d. Thus, it is not easy to individually manage cows by visually and instantaneously recognizing such 4-digit farm-use individual identification numbers, even when they have been enlarged. In addition, there has been such a problem of duplication of enlarged farm-use individual identification numbers.
(2) In the method where the upper digits of an Animal Registration Number are subdivided into an area code and a farm code (or farmland code) while the lowermost 4 digits are enlargedly printed on an ear tag as a farm-use individual identification number, it is assumed that 4-digit numbers from xe2x80x9c0001xe2x80x9d to xe2x80x9c9999xe2x80x9d are uniformly assigned to each farm irrespectively of a farm size and those numbers once assigned are never issued again. Thus, there has been a problem of lack of numbers on an extremely large farm, upon exceeding xe2x80x9c9999xe2x80x9d. Conversely, there has been another problem of occurrence of those numbers (so-called xe2x80x9cdead numbersxe2x80x9d) which will be never used even after a lapse of tens of years at an averaged farm level (breeding approximately 50 animals), thereby not providing efficient usage of farm use numbers.
As described above, the farm-use enlarged numbers have been always printed with 4 digits in Europe. According to such a method, it is only possible to select a particular Animal Registration Number 10,000 (ten thousands) ways, in selecting such an Animal Registration Number from the 4-digit numbers consisting of (0000) to (9999). However, the present applicant has discovered that it becomes possible to produce large numbers with drastically increased frequency if the numbers to be enlarged are printed in a 1-digit form in case of 0 to 9, in a 2-digit form in case of 11 to 99, and so forth, even under the same condition of 10,000 given of Animal Registration Numbers (0 to 9999). In other words, it becomes possible to produce unique Animal Registration Numbers to be partially enlarged at the request of farms without wastefulness, by indicating such large numbers with a required minimum number of digits. This is extremely simple, but provides a large effect.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an animal ear tag, a method of printing such an ear tag, and an individual identification method using such an ear tag, by which there can be effectively issued Animal Registration Numbers within a predetermined number of digits substantially without restriction, and those desired individual identification numbers suitable for readily and individually identifying animals in respective farms can be enlargedly printed as requested by the farms.
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides, as a first embodiment, an ear tag, containing an Animal Registration Number consisting of codes including numerals, letters, or barcodes, to be used by attaching it to an ear of an animal in order to identify an individual animal, characterized in that: the Animal Registration Number having multiple digits is printed at least on one of the sides of the ear tag, and further, some part of the Animal Registration Number is enlarged and printed on the same or a different side of the ear tag where the Animal Registration Number is printed, in accordance with a request from an individual farm for identifying each animal on the farm, by using a minimum number of digits of the Animal Registration Number.
In the first embodiment, there can be provided an ear tag wherein some part of the Animal Registration Number to be enlarged is selected from adjacent digits of the Animal Registration Number, when the enlarged number to be printed on the ear tag has multiple digits.
In the first embodiment, there can be also provided an ear tag wherein some part of the Animal Registration Number to be enlarged is selected discontinuous from the digits of the Animal Registration Number, when the enlarged number to be printed on the ear tag has multiple digits.
In the above two cases, where the enlarged number to be printed on the ear tag has multiple digits, there can be provided an ear tag wherein one or more digits of the Animal Registration Number enlarged and printed on the ear tag, as the enlarged number, can be distinguished in the multiple digits of the Animal Registration Number, in relation to other digits thereof, by eye.
Similarly, in the above two cases where the enlarged number to be printed on the ear tag has multiple digits, there can be provided an ear tag wherein information on which digits of the Animal Registration Number are enlarged,:in size and printed on the ear tag is contained in a barcode when the Animal Registration Number is printed on the ear tag in the form of a barcode.
Further, in the first embodiment, there can be provided an ear tag wherein the enlarged number includes a code which is not included in the Animal Registration Number, and the code is inserted in the Animal Registration Number as a dummy digit in a form where the dummy digit can be distinguished from the other digits of the Animal Registration Number.
Moreover, in all of the aforementioned cases, there can be provided an ear tag wherein the enlarged number is printed on the left side, right side, or center of the ear tag, and the space is left on at least one of the left side and right side of the enlarged numbers, when the enlarged number has fewer digits than the maximum number of digits that can be printed on the ear tag. In this case, a guide mark for indicating the space to be filled in by a code can be printed on the space.
Meanwhile, there can be provided an ear tag wherein the enlarged number is a one-digit number or a two-digit number, and at least one figure xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d having the same size as the enlarged number is printed on the left side of the enlarged number in accordance with the digit of the enlarged number to make the enlarged number a three or less digit number.
Further, there can be provided an ear tag wherein the enlarged number is a one-digit number or a two-digit number, and at least one figure xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d having a smaller size than the enlarged number is printed on the left side of the enlarged number in accordance with the digits of the enlarged number to make the enlarged number a three or less digit number.
Notes when a figure xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d is to be printed on the left side of the enlarged number, the color of the figure xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d may be thinner than the color of the enlarged number comprised of a one-digit number or a two-digit number, or the figure xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d may be printed as an outline character.
Moreover, the following two methods are possible as a method of printing an ear tag, according to a second embodiment of the present invention for achieving the aforementioned object,
According to a first printing method, there is provided a method of printing the Animal Registration Number controlled by the specific organization consisting of codes including numerals, letters, or barcodes and an enlarged number, on an ear tag which is used by attaching it to an ear of an animal in order to identify an individual animal, comprising the steps of: requesting the enlarged number, which is a private number having four digits, at most, necessary to identify an individual animal in an individual farm, to the specific organization from the individual farm, through some channel of supply; selecting one of the Animal Registration Number, which includes all or all but one of the figures consisting of each digit of the required enlarged number, from the database of the Animal Registration Number previously prepared at the specific organization; transmitting the selected Registration Number and the required enlarged number to the ear tag issuing organization from the specific organization; and printing the Animal Registration Number transmitted from the specific organization on the ear tag and printing the enlarged number included in the Animal Registration Number, in a minimum number of digits, at the ear tag issuing organization.
According to a second printing method, there is provided a method of printing the Animal Registration Number controlled by the specific organization consisting of codes including numerals, letters, or barcodes and an enlarged number on an ear tag which is used by attaching it to an ear of an animal in order to identify an individual animal, comprising the steps of: regularly transmitting unused numbers in the database of the Animal Registration Number previously prepared at the specific organization to the database provided at the ear tag issuing organization; arranging a set of figures indicating the enlarged number which is necessary to be printed on the ear tag enlarged in a minimum number of digits in order to identify an individual animal at the individual farm, and then selecting an Animal Registration Number which includes all of the figures of the arranged enlarged number somewhere in the multiple digits thereof from the database of the tag issuing organization; transmitting the selected Animal Registration Number to the database of the specific organization from the ear tag issuing organization and deleting an unused number corresponding to the selected Animal Registration Number from the database of the specific organization; and printing the selected Animal Registration Number on the ear tag and printing the enlarged number in a large size on the ear tag in a minimum number of digits, at the ear tag issuing organization, after transmitting the selected Animal Registration Number to the database of the specific organization from the ear tag issuing organization.
Further, the following two methods are possible as an individual identification method utilizing an ear tag, which individual identification method is a third embodiment of the present invention.
As a first individual identification method, there is provided a method of identifying an individual animal by distinguishing it from another using the ear tag according to the first embodiment and a data processor at the place where animals are collected from each farm, comprising the steps of: inputting the Animal Registration Number printed on the ear tag and further inputting a farm use number to the data processor; detecting a duplication of the farm use number among the ear tags attached to each animal grouped at designated place for a specific purpose by the data processor; and displaying an instruction to add and indicate at least one digit of the figures included in the Animal Registration Number to the farm use number in order to distinguish the duplicated farm use number from another when the data processor detects the duplication of the farm use number on the ear tag.
As a second individual identification method, there is provided a method of identifying an individual animal by distinguishing it from another using the ear tag according to the first embodiment, a card for subsidiary use with the ear tag and containing all of the information provided by the ear tag, and a data processor at the place where animals are collected from each farm, comprising the steps of; inputting the Animal Registration Number printed on the ear tag or the card and further inputting a farm use number to the data processor; detecting a duplication of the farm use number among the ear tags attached to each animal grouped at designated place for a specific purpose by the data processor; and displaying an instruction to add at least one digit of the figures included in the Animal Registration Number to the farm used number in order to distinguish the duplicated farm use number from another when the data processor detects the duplication of said farm use number on the ear tag.
According to the present invention, respective farms can obtain ear tags printed with enlarged farm use numbers with the minimum number of digits required by the farm in addition to printed Animal Registration Numbers managed by a predetermined organization, so that the enlarged farm use numbers become legible to thereby facilitate individual identification and management of animals in respective farms.
Further, visual recognition of an Animal Registration Number or decryption of a barcode will show which portion of the Animal Registration Number the numerals of an enlarged number have been selected from. Moreover, by adding a dummy numeral into the enlarged number, it becomes possible to effectively utilize Animal Registration Numbers in a database of a predetermined organization.
Furthermore, the space at at least one of the right and left sides of the enlarged number allows arbitrary entrance of a symbol and/or numeral by a farm, to thereby permit distinguishing duplicated enlarged numbers front each other. In this case, a guide mark(s) printed at the space facilitates the task such as entering a letter and/or numeral in the space.
By printing a numeral(s) xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d at the left side of a 1-digit or 2-digit enlarged number up to the extent of total 3 digits which still allows the enlarged number to be legible, the number of digits of enlarged numbers can be standardized or uniformalized.
Further, according to the individual managing method utilizing an ear tag of the present invention, even upon occurrence of duplication of enlarged numbers when animals attached with ear tags printed with enlarged numbers have been collected such as at a market or abattoir, it is still possible to mutually distinguish individual animals to thereby manage them.